ebay bidding: a bit tricky!!!

[GL Anderson]

Re: Sniping is difficult with 56K dial-up...

If you want you can use a service like www.auctionsniper.com to get in a last second bid. It costs a small amount depending on the item, but you don't have to sit in front of your computer waiting to try to get in a last second bid. Just my experience GL

[Larry S.]

Re: Sniping is difficult with 56K dial-up...

Wayne I am using a service that can bid 300 time in $1.00 increments in 0ne second.So no matter how fast your connection speed is any body using this service can and will out bid you.by the time you have refreshed your screen to see where the bidding is I could have placed 900 bids

[Harry Sadlock]

Re: Sniping is difficult with 56K dial-up...

There is one seller on Ebay that says in his write-up, if you use the "autosnipe" you will be charged an additional 25 percent if you win. He also says that you can refuse to but the item, but you must pay his listing fees. His logic is, it is unfair to the nornal buyer and it upsets the normal auction bidding process. I think I like his logic.

Harry

38513

[Patrick H.]

Re: Sniping is difficult with 56K dial-up...

And how can he tell???

Patrick

[Jack Layton]

Why snipe ?...

Probably because you are more interested in playing a game with E-bay than you are in obtaining a needed part for your Corvette. Put your max bid in and wait. If you win the bid at that price or less then you are happy. If you lose the part at a higher bid then you are still happy because you have not bid more than you wanted to pay. I'm generally more interested in obtaining a difficult to find part at a fair price than trying to be "tricky" with the nuances of the E-bay game. It warms the cockles of my heart to learn that 2 of these E-bay tricksters screwed themselves into paying an outrageous price for a part due directly to their "tricky" games.

[Harry Sadlock]

Re: Sniping is difficult with 56K dial-up...

I believe the only way he can tell is by the time-stamps between bids.

[Larry S.]

Re: Why snipe ?...

An auction by nature normally brings the highest price to the seller.Its has to do with human nature.You say ok bidder (A) I will pay 10.00 for this part so you bid it.Some other guy Bidder (B)comes along and says OH look I can win this part if I bid another 3 dollars and sure enough he takes the high bid.Bidder (A) decides he wont allow the other guy to win so he raise his bid.This is the way a normal auction works and the price keeps going up and up.Where as when you use a snipe the first and your last bid goes out in the last 8 to 12 seconds of the auction the other guy has no time to re act.

I have received tons of nasty email from other folks I was bidding against on corvette parts.Anybody who asked me how I did I always explained.But I think the usefullness of snipping is coming to an end because alot of folks are using it now

[Steve Antonucci]

Re: Why snipe ?...

I've been an ebay member for over two years now. I have gotten many good
deals! Unfortunately, the face of ebay has changed due to sniping. I now
call ebay 30-SECONDS.COM

I have lost many auctions lately, due to sniping. Whether the winners are
using a sniping-service or not, I can't tell. Either way, I still lost.
I, like many others, was forced to get into the sniping game to keep from
being outbid in the last seconds. It only takes a few losses to get the point!

If sniping worries some of us, then here is one way to stop it immediately.
I have written to ebay about this. I suggest others do the same.

Another online auction house ( non automotive related ) has a policy that I
happen to like. It basically goes like this:

If a higher bid is placed on an item within the last 15 minutes of the auction,
then an additional 15 minutes is automatically added to the aution time.
Everytime another bid is placed, 15 more minutes is added. This continues until
the bidding stops. This may seen silly, but it surely will stop the sniping
syndrome. The auction price will run a steady climb, not the last minute
frantic BAM-BAM-BAM! Sorry Emeril!
Steve

[Patrick H.]

Re: Why snipe ?...

One of the firearm sites does this same thing. I wish it was only 5 minutes instead of 15. It can really drag out an auction end, and since everyone seems to love ending auctions at midnight EST (why??? can't I sleep???) it can make for a short night.

Patrick

[Steve Antonucci]

Re: Why snipe ?...

Patrick,

5, 10 or 15 minutes. What's the difference? It will most likely drag on
anyway. Besides, 15 minutes gives you time to grab a beer, ask your wife
if you can bid more ( in a bigger dog house ), think about it logically,
tell yourself you don't really need another one of these items, and BID!

Steve

[Patrick H.]

Re: Why snipe ?...

Yeah, but 15 minutes of sleep is 15 minutes of sleep!

I play with my own set aside $, so I don't have to ask the wife. It make life easier. When my funds are down, they're down. Buying over for a month.

Patrick

[Clem Z.]

my money?

we have our money and her money but not my money,i must be doing somethig wrong.

[Eugene B.]

Re: Corvettes built from eBay parts

Gents,
Thought I'd share a thought with everyone. Just a thought, I could be a little damp (well maybe ALL WET)!

It seems that bargains are becoming scaracer on eBay. Partly due to the bidding wars and perhaps somewhat due to sniping. Whichever, prices steadly move upward.

If you need a few rare, hard to find parts, maybe you don't mind paying more. But if you purchase too many over-priced parts for your restoration, you can quickly get upside down in your project and easily put more in the car than you will ever get back when sale time comes.

After all, you can't come out good if you buy too many $400 oil caps!

For the reasons stated above, I'm not sure that eBay is a good thing. I have never purchased (nor will I ever purchase) parts for my Corvette via eBay.

Best regards to all,
Gene

[mikemccagh]

Re: Corvettes built from eBay parts

Gene: i'm with you. if i can't see and touch the needed part, i'll dowithout until i can thoroughly examine said vette part. mike

[Donald L.]

No.She doing something right! *NM*